


Certain Dark Things

by fear_of_being_bitten



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Banging into love, Breeding Kink, Darkfic lite, Dominant Kylo Ren, Dubious Consent, F/M, Forced Marriage, Getting to Know Each Other, Glove Kink, He's dark but kind of soft, Loss of Virginity, Masks, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Possessive Behavior, Possessive Kylo Ren, Rey follows her duty, Wedding Night, dubcon by forced marriage, fully dressed male, helmet kink, mask kink, mention of trying to get pregnant, undressed female, while sexing, wolf on a leash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:07:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21562735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fear_of_being_bitten/pseuds/fear_of_being_bitten
Summary: In the end, Rey was right.  Her family did return for her.She was born Freyah Naberrie, a stolen royal daughter of Naboo.  The Emperor decreed an arranged marriage to Lord Ren to ensure the safety of her planet, and she could not say no.  Her new husband Kylo Ren was a stranger behind the mask, yet their wedding night proved he was made of flesh and blood.Rey would find a way to peel back the layers of black and chrome to find the heart of the man underneath.A canon-divergent Arranged Marriage AU with Cupid & Psyche vibes and mask/glove kink.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 249
Kudos: 838
Collections: The Pink Ladies Love Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [koderenn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/koderenn/gifts).



______

She'd never seen so much water in all her life. 

Enough to fill the many ornate fountains on the palace grounds. Enough to pour out onto the ground for the flowers and fruit trees. Enough to _swim_ in, even. 

Such a waste. A decadent miracle of plenty for a girl who'd never had enough.

“Are you ready, milady?”

Rey turned away from the window to see Arden, her handmaiden. Her sweet, wrinkled face was smiling, but the brown eyes Rey had come to know in the last few months couldn’t hide the sadness. A lump formed in her throat. Saying goodbye to kind Arden hurt the worst.

She smoothed down the front of her silver-spun gown, but snapped her palms away, afraid to have ruined the fine fabric with sand or grease. An old habit from her old life. She looked down at her clean hands, the nails groomed and calluses softening from sweet-smelling lotion. Jeweled rings glittered on her fingers. Even after weeks of endless meals, dress fittings and lessons on court etiquette, it still didn’t feel real. 

_Rey with no last name._

_Scavenger of Jakku._

_Sand rat._

You never realize who you are until you aren’t that person anymore. She was a lady now. Her responsibility was to her noble House.

“The transport is waiting, dear,” Arden said gently.

Rey managed a smile and twisted her hands into a knot at her waist. Arden escorted her to the First Order transport and gave one final, tight embrace as Rey squeezed her eyes shut to capture the tears before they fell.

“Be well, Freyah,” Arden whispered, “Never forget who you are.” She released her with a kiss to the temple.

It was time to go. Her groom was waiting.

_____

  
  


_In the end, she was right. Her family had come back for her._

_The court messengers found her outside of Plutt’s. A simple prick of blood from her finger proved she was Ryoo Freyah Naberrie, the lost daughter of Sola Naberrie and Kolan Nazith, of a noble House. Her parents were murdered by insurgents while on a trade mission and young Freyah– Rey – had been stolen and sold on Jakku._

_Her true home was on Naboo. Her Aunt Pooja Naberrie was desperate to have her home again. This was her happy ending._

_She was welcomed home with open arms and kisses. After several months of learning customs and traditions, she had her society debut. There were many noble suitors thrilled by the prospect of marrying a newly-discovered Naberrie bride. Rey would have her pick and plenty of time to decide._

_To everyone’s shock, a dictate arrived from the Emperor. Lady Freyah would wed a groom of his choosing: his apprentice. Their union would ensure the prosperity and safety of her planet._

_Her duty was clear. There was no saying no._

_____

  
  


The transport brought her to the Finalizer. Rey was led down the maze of long, dark halls to her chambers.

She found no luxuries like the palace of Naboo, only black durasteel and chrome fixtures, sleek and efficient. Barren. Rey walked through her suite, fingertips skipping along the lines of hard steel.

Cold, so cold. The air held no warmth. She shuddered, already missing the sun.

When she entered the bedroom, she stopped. Her lips parted in delight.

On a table near the bed sat a large vase overflowing with deep crimson flowers. _Plom blooms_ , she thought to herself. Rey had heard of them, but had seen so few living flowers in her young life. They poured from their container and down onto the table, a vivid splash of dark red against the black.

She bent over to touch a velvet petal between her fingers and then lowered her face into the blossoms. So sweet, so soft. Her eyes closed in pleasure as she took a deep whiff of the rich fragrance.

“Do you like them?” A deep and distorted voice asked from behind her.

Rey gasped and straightened. A tall figure blocked the light from hallway, his shadow drowning her in darkness. She could only make the outline of wide shoulders and a massive frame. Her stomach twisted almost painfully with the onset of nerves.

The man stepped into the room and the darkness followed. A cape, she realized, and when he moved in closer, the faint bedroom light shimmered and reflected off the black and silver of his mask.

Her heart skittered. She recognized him. This was the man she would marry. “Yes. Th-thank you, they’re lovely, Lord Ren.”

He nodded once, silently. His mask dipped as his gaze poured down her body. What type of creature required a mask? She tried not to think of it. 

She kept her gaze on the blooms and waited for him to speak again. Their sweet perfume filled the air of the small room. Her breath was so shallow that the fragrance soon became overwhelming. Oppressive. Her chest was way too tight.

“I’m glad you like them. Do you require anything?” It was hard to guess the age of the voice, it was so deep and modulated that it seemed inhuman.

“No, sir. Thank you.”

He expelled a deep breath through the valve. Rey tried hard not to shudder.

“The ceremony will be after dinner.”

“Tonight?!” The word flew from her lips without thinking. Her gaze snapped to his mask, but it gave nothing away. A blank cipher, inhuman. Fear rose and clutched at her throat, and she looked away from him again.

Too soon. Rey was still reeling from leaving her new home, she was not prepared yet to serve her duty as wife. She only needed time, yet it seemed she wouldn’t be granted that.

“The Emperor sees no reason to wait.” Lord Ren took a step closer. He loomed large in her periphery, like an ominous cloud. “Neither do I. You would make a lovely prize or ransom if left unclaimed. It would be a shame to lose you so soon after acquiring you."

Her temper flared to life. She was no one’s chattel. It was her own choice to fulfill her obligations to her House. “How flattering that the Emperor thinks I’m desirable enough to be a temptation,” she said. If anyone knew her well enough, they would detect the bitterness of her tone.

But no one knew her here. Only her intended– a stranger. 

Lord Ren’s cloak rustled as he moved beside her. She set her chin and kept her eyes on a deep red blossom as he lifted a single gloved finger to her temple. The smooth, warm leather was a strange sensation as he stroked a path slowly down her cheek. Rey forced herself to hold still under his touch.

His voice was deep and rough through the mask. “A temptation, to be sure, and I’m afraid I’m quite unwilling to share.”

Rey said nothing. Lord Ren dropped his hand and turned to walk away, speaking over his shoulder.

“Prepare for the ceremony. After dinner.” Then he was gone, and she was locked away again.

Rey heaved a sigh and dropped onto the bed, her shoulders slumping. The air was thick with the heady fragrance of flowers and her head was spinning. 

She rubbed her cheek, but couldn’t stop the tingling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from SONNET XVII
> 
> I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,  
> or the arrow of the carnations the fire shoots off.  
> I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,  
> in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
> 
> I love you as the plant that never blooms  
> but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;  
> thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,  
> risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
> 
> I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.  
> I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;  
> so I live you because I know no other way
> 
> than this: where I does not exist, nor you,  
> so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,  
> so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.
> 
> -Pablo Neruda


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sith Translation in bottom notes.  
> ______
> 
> Note: In this AU, Emperor Palpatine commands the First Order and Kylo Ren is his apprentice.  
> There is no Snoke here.

_____

Rey paced her chambers, waiting. It seemed her whole life she’d been waiting. 

To her surprise, there was no formal dinner or celebration in their honor. Only a lone droid that delivered a tray of food. The dishes were strange, the scents unfamiliar, and her stomach churned. She touched none of it.

How her circumstances had changed. She had the privilege to choose to go hungry now.

Rey showered and prepared herself as best she could on her own. If only she had Arden and her gentle companionship. Her lip quivered. Perhaps it was better she was alone for this. Alone she had no tears to spare.

The time finally came. A protocol droid returned to help her step into the silver and white ancestral gown of her House, embellished with lace and embroidery. Generations of honor and obligation were woven into the silk, as well. The veil she pinned on herself, giving a last look in the mirror at the girl she had been for a short while. As she followed the droid to the threshold, she hesitated. 

“Lady Naberrie?” The droid quirked it’s head, blue eyes regarding her from an impassive chrome face. “Is there a problem?”

“One moment,” Rey said.

Quickly she darted back to the bedroom and plucked out seven red plom blooms for luck. She wrapped them with a hair ribbon. Bouquet in hand, she stepped into the quiet, cold halls of the ship to meet her fate.

The sharp strike of her heels against durasteel echoed off metal walls. The droid led her to an elevator and entered a code that made them rise. As the floors flew by in quick succession, she blinked against the flashes of light and steeled herself for what would come.

This was her duty. She had suffered far worse than this in her young life. A loveless marriage of convenience was expected of many royals. Rey could do this for her family and home world. She must.

Ryoo Freyah Naberrie set her jaw as the elevator came to a stop. She stepped off with her chin raised.

The first thing she noticed was that the walls were an endless pool of blood red.

The next, the chamber was nearly empty. Her groom and a decrepit old man seated on a throne were the only in attendance save the guards. 

Finally, and with a shock, she saw that her groom still wore the mask.

Her heart pounded and her steps slowed as she followed the droid inside. Until that moment, she didn’t realize how much she had anticipated seeing his true face before taking his name. Only a monster would remain hidden on his wedding day. Her disappointment was swallowed by a surge of drowning fear.

Rey fixed her gaze on the ground before the throne. She took her place by Lord Ren's side, avoiding his gaze.

She cast her eyes downward and curtsied as she had been taught.

“Ahh, Lord Ren, you have done Princess Ryoo a great disservice.” The Emperor was as pale and pitted as a moon. She tried not to look at him.

From the corner of her eye, she saw her groom’s attention snap from her to the throne. His voice was icy, but she could sense tension in his words. “In what way, my Emperor?”

“You undersold her beauty. Holovids do not do her justice. She is far too vital and delicate, she must be seen in the flesh to be fully appreciated.”

The words prickled down her spine like needles. Rey kept her eyes on the blood red floor. Perhaps he’d think her modest rather than repulsed. 

“Yes, she is lovely. Thank you for the gift.”

Bile rose as they talked about her like a bottle of fine wine. The formality of the event belied the crude nature of it: she was just a possession passing from one set of hands to another. Her jaw clenched and she remembered her obligation. _Duty. Honor._

“Come closer. Bring her to me.”

Rey peeked up under the veil. She could make out the Emperor's eyes inside his hood– strange eyes that glowed eerie golden with excitement. It was rumored he had lived for hundreds of years and that his power had only grown stronger even as his body had withered. Her instinct from years of surviving on her own screamed at her to run away, that evil lay here, that this was dangerous. 

Yet her groom held out a gloved hand to her, and she had no choice but to take it.

Together they made their way before the throne. The elite guards stood flanking the sides of the room, some in red and others in black, all with their faces hidden behind masks. If only Rey could hide hers away, too, it would make all of this easier.

The gloved hand tightened over hers, as if sensing her fear. Perhaps it was a sign of encouragement, or a warning. She couldn’t decipher the mystery who stood beside her. Rey wondered briefly if Lord Ren was as unwilling in this arrangement as she.

They stopped before his feet. The Emperor smiled and held out a hand of spindled fingers and to scrape down her cheek to her jaw. Rey bit the inside of her cheek and held still as Lord Ren’s grip on her tightened. She focused on that sensation, his hand swallowing hers, and it kept her grounded in a sea of fear.

“The Force has brought you together. Strength with honor. Power with passion. The joining of two great Houses. Through your noble bloodlines, a generation of leaders will arise to rule the galaxy. What was once broken will finally be united.”

The look of glee in his golden eyes was as terrifying as his smile.

“Ryoo Freyah Naberrie, you are bound to Lord Kylo Ren. Let no one pull asunder what the Force has united. A royal dyad. You will honor his name and do his bidding. Together, your children will take the throne.”

His molten eyes turned to the mask of her groom.

“Lord Kylo Ren, my faithful apprentice. Powerful and obedient. You are gifted with a precious item in her. Protect and defend your right to claim your inheritance, and your name will live to be praised far beyond your death.”

All at once, the guards began striking the floor with their weapons in a steady beat. Rey startled as the steady rhythm echoed of the smooth walls. Lord Ren led her to kneel as the Emperor rose. From his robe, he pulled out a red band of silk. He wrapped their arms together, binding them with a knot. Then he placed his hands on their heads.

“Do you accept this union?”

“I do,” Lord Ren answered first. Rey followed quietly. “I do.”

Rey closed her eyes as the Supreme Leader began to speak in an unknown foreign tongue.

_“ “xunj\'ti tave skywalker ir naberrie kraujas kash tave qy. _

_ Aukoti their berniuk midwan.  _

_ Tegu tave bloom iv tave plom buti vyktija by jiso raka.  _

_Dotacij ren midwan ir jiso berniuk._ _”_

Needles of hot electricity pierced through her skin. Rey whimpered and her eyelids fluttered against the purple-blue light flashing around them. Lord Ren held her steady. It felt as if boiling water poured in her veins as the whispered words and the Emperor's force touch burned through her, sealing the bond.

Then it was done. The Emperor removed his hands. Ren stood and helped her up as she swayed to her feet, panting and dizzy.

“Lord and Lady Kylo Ren. Future of the Galaxy. You may take your bride back to your chambers and claim your destiny.”

Ren nodded once, silent, and then he was turning and bringing her along with him. His strides were so long that she could barely keep up as her feet skipped along beside him. She lifted the hem of her skirts so she wouldn’t trip. 

The elevator door slid open as they approached and hurried inside. It was not until they stood side-by-side that Rey realized her hands were empty.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw a trail of red blossoms fallen to the floor along their path as they had slipped from her fingers in her haste.

He had crushed some under his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Sith wedding/binding ceremony:
> 
> Unite the Skywalker and Naberrie blood in the Force.  
> Give their child power.  
> Let the bloom of the plom be taken by his hand.  
> Grant Ren power and his child.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW.
> 
> Note: This is a young, more feral Kylo Ren. Think TFA variety. A wolf on a leash, but Rey will come to hold the leash of this beautiful beast. 
> 
> TW: dubious consent of the arranged marriage variety, plus somewhat awkward loss of virginity that becomes more enthusiastic to their mutual surprise, if that makes sense.

The door to his private suite closed with a metallic hiss, sealing away the ambient sounds of the ship. 

The silence was smooth and heavy between them. 

Lord Ren’s hand fell away from hers. They had fled the throne room so quickly that the awkwardness of the situation was just now catching up with them. They were strangers, yet married. Electricity still buzzed in her skull, the aftershocks of whatever strange magic the Emperor had used to bind them. 

Combined with her nerves, it felt as if she was floating.

Their union must be completed to be valid. Rey knew what was coming. She twisted her fingers together and watched Lord Ren move from the periphery of her eye. 

Her new husband took two halting steps toward a table and reached for a carafe. “Are you thirsty?” he asked without turning. 

The voice modulator in the mask made emotion difficult to decipher, although the words themselves were clear and soft. Gentle, Rey supposed, or at least as gentle as he could make them. She felt a flush of gratitude.

“I have water. And wine,” he continued. “Perhaps wine would be–”

“Wine, please, Lord.” The words spilled out of her before he had finished. She hadn’t meant to interrupt. Hopefully he took no offense. “Thank you,” she said, quietly.

With a clink, he poured a glass half-full of red wine and brought it to her.

“None for you?” Rey asked, daring to peek up at him over the rim. The black and chrome mask gave nothing away. 

“I do not drink. Please, enjoy.”

“Oh,” she said, disappointment glazing her words. No marriage toast between them, then. She still had not seen his face. Rey took a sip of wine and felt her cheeks flush. The warmth that poured down her throat combined with the picture of what was coming. He would take her tonight, as all husbands must. The adrenaline of the ceremony was fading quickly and her empty stomach roiled. She should’ve eaten earlier, the alcohol would go straight to her head.

Perhaps that was a good thing.

He circled behind her. Unhooking his cape, he draped it over a chair. She took a long swallow as she heard the unmistakable sound of clothing shifting, and the muscles along her spine tensed as she glanced over her shoulder.

Lord Ren was removing the formal over-jacket, leaving him in only tight trousers and a tunic that hit him mid-thigh. For the first time, she saw the shape of his body clearly. Thick legs and arms, with a solid waist stacked beneath wide shoulders. The sheer proportion of him was a shock. He bent over slightly to lay out the jacket, and his ample thighs and backside pulled at the seams of his pants.

He was massive. 

Rey turned back quickly and took another big gulp of wine. Her head was swimming. Heavy footfalls moved behind her. “Allow me,” he plucked the glass from her hands. She gripped the folds of her gown in two fists to dry the sweat from her palms. 

_Duty. Honor. Obligation._ She reminded herself. 

When her husband returned to her side and offered a gloved hand, Rey took it. He led her deeper into his rooms. 

To his bed.

It was draped in fine sheets of charcoal and fog grey, a large bed for a large man. Rey supposed that she’d never forget the first time she saw her husband’s bed and the emotion swirled in her chest. Would this be a memory she’d share with a daughter one day, amongst whispers and giggles? Or an image she would try desperately to forget?

She was not naive, although she’d never laid with a man. There had been stolen kisses and quick fumbles, but coupling on a planet like Jakku would earn you a momentary respite from despair, at best, and at worst the death sentence of illness or a child. No fleeting pleasure was worth the risk. Still, Rey knew enough of the mechanics to worry her lip between teeth while she waited for his next move.

There was a hesitation behind her. A creak of leather, the whisper of fabric. She felt that he was measuring up the situation, and perhaps her, and her stomach twisted.

When finally she felt his body heat close in behind her, she froze on instinct. Much as a stalked rabbit, as if stillness would be a salvation. But Rey knew she could not disappear. This was her husband now. He held as much of a right to her body as she did herself, whether she liked it or not. There was no escape of the inevitable.

Lord Ren said nothing, allowing her to adjust to his proximity. Her heart beat methodically in her chest. Rey didn’t startle, but it was a surprise when a single knuckle made contact with her arm just above the elbow. It tracked its way slowly up her arm to rest on her shoulder. His touch did nothing to relax her, and if anything, her skin grew even tighter and her senses even more aware of him. She felt the steady pulse of her heartbeat drumming in her ears and between her legs.

Her husband's gloved hand was warm and surprisingly soft when it finally edged past the fabric of her gown and grazed over the bare skin near her collar bone. A small touch, but it felt as electric as the ceremony in the throne room. Rey’s breath came both quick and shallow.

“Are you nervous?” Lord Ren asked, his voice deep. He was close enough that it caused vibrations in her chest. 

She could tell by the barely-concealed satisfaction in his tone that he already knew the answer. He was enjoying himself. She wondered how experienced he was in such matters. There was no use hiding it from him. 

“Yes, Lord.”

“When we’re alone like this, you may call me Kylo. Unless you prefer the title.”

“Thank you.” She swallowed, “Kylo.”

His palm flattened on her skin. So large that his fingers settled on the plane of her chest even as his thumb curled around the nape of her neck like a collar. 

“I do not wish you to fear me,” he whispered.

“I–I don’t.” Rey swallowed. It was partially true. Fear wasn’t precisely the word for what she felt, although it may be the closest term. It didn’t capture the confusing mix of emotions that twisted in her veins– like curiosity and excitement, trepidation and anticipation– even as her mouth ran dry. 

His other hand began a methodical track up her other arm. Rey licked her lips, hot and light-headed. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. He was barely touching her, yet every cell screamed for her to flee from the room. The vestigial instincts of a sand rat.

There was no fighting this. This was a different sort of struggle.

“I–I’ve never,” Rey began. “I mean to say, that I’ve never–”

“–been touched,” he finished for her. “Yes, I know.” His other hand ended its journey on her shoulder, leaving goosebumps in its wake. “That was obvious the first day we met.”

Kylo closed the remaining distance, and now her back was pressed against his warm chest. As cool as his demeanor, the muscles of his chest were an intensity of heat. The natural weight of his hands settled on her skin and grounded her. A modicum of tension melted away as she braced her body against his.

They breathed together in the near dark of his bedroom as she adjusted to the feel of his body touching hers.

“I won’t ask much from you, Rey,” he said quietly. “Obedience, primarily. Duty. Do you understand?”

She did. She knew precisely what that duty included. Rey nodded quickly.

“I don’t demand your affection. Such things are not necessary, and can in fact ruin a suitable marriage. But you will respect me.”

Rey blinked, trying to make sense of the words and the intent behind them. The rush of blood in her veins made clarity a challenge. He brushed her long hair over a shoulder and tugged at the veil. “Remove this.”

She complied, slipping the pins out blindly with trembling fingers. He tossed it way. His fingers found the zipper of the gown and dragged it slowly down her back until it fell from her shoulders and pooled on the floor around her ankles, leaving her in only a thin slip.

His hand on her hips helped guide her to walk forward to the bed. He bent her slowly over it as her heart pounded.

Rey gripped the sheets and turned her cheek to the side. He was silent behind her as he lifted the skirt up and draped it over her ass. She was blind in the hazy dark and could not see him. Only the feel of leather on her skin and his deep breath through the mask helped her track his movements.

Fingers stroked down her bare back appreciatively. He cupped her ass and gave a soft squeeze. “Beautiful, you’re so lovely,” he murmured. Rey bit her lip and closed her eyes when two fingers slipped between her legs and began to stroke. She whimpered and blushed when she realized how wet she was when his leather gloves slid through her folds.

The mattress sunk when he kneeled on the bed to shift closer. A palm pressed down in the mattress near her face as he curved over her. A single finger eased inside, and her eyes flew wide with a hitched gasp. She watched the muscles of his forearm flex as he stroked in deeper. The leather felt warm and strange inside her.

The stretch burned when he added another finger. The feeling of pressure and fullness was unfamiliar, and his pace quickened too soon in his eagerness. She forced herself to open her thighs for him, resisting the urge to flinch. He was her husband, and this was necessary. When she bent her knee to open further for him, he exhaled heavy, breath rasping inside the mask as the pace of his fingers increased.

“You’re so wet for me.” He said it quietly, maybe even to himself. Perhaps in surprise. Rey wasn’t sure that she was meant to hear. The words sounded vulnerable even through the mask.

The fingers withdrew and the bed shifted again as he unzipped his pants.

Pressure returned to her slit, warm and hard. He aligned the blunt tip of his cock at her wet center and fit himself inside. Leaning forward, he used his body weight to sink into her steadily.

Rey turned her forehead toward the mattress and whined. It hurt. She was wet, but he was unrelenting as he filled her. It felt like too much. He continued the slow plunge onward until he met some resistance. Several sharp thrusts, and she whimpered as he broke through with a jolt of pain.

“Breathe,” he said above her, not unkindly but also not a request. “Relax. It always hurts the first time.”

Rey didn’t realize she was holding her breath until it all released in a rush. He pushed in deeper until his hips met her ass and he clutched her hip. In the quiet room, their heavy breathing met in symphony. Then he began to circle his hips, wedging in deeper, flexing into her. She grit her teeth, but despite the burning she grew wetter and some of the pain eased as she adjusted around him.

He withdrew a bit and stroked back in. And again. The slide grew easier as she softened and it turned into steady pumps. Kylo wrapped gloved hands around her hips and urged her up on her knees as he shifted to kneel behind her. When she complied, he gripped her hips tighter and set a faster, deeper pace immediately.

Rey bit her lower lip and fisted the sheets to push back from the rocking. The pain gradually faded into something else. Not quite pleasure, but strangely pleasurable. Her cheek brushed the sheets with every thrust. The slick sounds of their bodies joining, his grunts and deep breath were loud in the quiet room, the leather gloved-fingers digging into her skin– it was all oddly arousing. Animalistic, being used this way, and yet dizzying. It wasn’t as awful as she thought it would be.

Her arms began to tire from trying to stay in place. His skin slapped against hers until the rhythm became erratic and rough. Kylo finally plunged in and arched his back, his fingers squeezing almost painfully as he grunted. Rey felt his hot release pulse inside her. Some of his spend trickled down the inside of her leg.

Her husband's body pressed her down to the mattress as he draped over her back. Rey’s eyes flitted and roamed in the dark beneath his weight. She listened as his breath slowed behind her. 

It wasn’t at all what she expected. She didn’t think she would like any of it, but her blood felt hot and quick in her veins. Her skin prickled with unreleased tension and her sex throbbed.

After catching his breath, Kylo shifted and rolled her over to face him. He was fully dressed, gloves and mask and all, and he had taken her that way. She stared up at the mask as he knelt over her and watched the reflection of light from the other room dance across the silver and black. 

It was completed. This was her husband. She was now his wife. Her body was his, but was his body also hers?

Rey’s gaze dropped down to his cock, the only bare skin visible. Proof he was also a flesh and blood man and not just a monster. It was softening and flushed pink, still glistening in a bed of curls. That had been _inside_ of her.

Her eyes flickered back up to the mask. Like a mirror, it reflected only her own wide eyes. 

Not knowing what bravery possessed her, Rey reached for his cock. He froze when she cupped him in her hands. Rey wrapped her fingers around the tender skin and squeezed, wanting to feel a human part of him. Kylo groaned through the mask. A deep sound, a human sound. It made the hair stand up at the nape of her neck. 

Rey continued to stroke, squeezing as he gradually thickened again and flexed his hips into her hand. Her other hand crept up under the hem of his tunic. The firm muscles of his abdomen and stomach twitched under her fingertips. She stroked his cock and dug into the ridges of his abdominals and the soft, dark hair there until he made a guttural sound deep in his throat.

Kylo grabbed her wrists, pinning them to the bed on either side of her head. Rey held her breath and froze. Had she done something wrong? Angered him?

He only released her hands so he could rip the slip open down the front, exposing her fully. Rey flinched, but didn’t fight it as her own blood heated again. It was his right. He could take what he wanted. Kylo had been controlled before– moderated. After she had touched him, he seemed ignited. The air sizzled around him, unstable.

A glove cupped her exposed tit and rolled it in his palm. She parted her lips. His thumb brushed at the bead of her nipple. Rey swallowed a moan and closed her mouth to keep it hidden.

“No. No, I want to hear you,” he said, slightly breathless. Rough.

He squeezed again and her eyelids fluttered.

“Does this feel good?” He asked with genuine curiosity.

She nodded.

“Say it, wife.”

“Yes, Kylo.”

He pinched the nipple between his fingers. Rey gave a sharp cry, but her cunt pulsed with need.

“And that?”

“I–I don’t know,” she breathed out. The throb of her body told the truth. “Yes.”

A hand dragged heavy down her stomach, scraping skin before cupping her mound. He stroked at her wet slit. His voice was dark and laced with need. “What about this?”

“Yes.” She nodded eagerly.

He found the small pearl at the top and made soft circles. Rey whimpered and arched her back off the mattress.

“Ah, yes.” Kylo said, answering for her. She could almost hear his smile behind the mask. “It does.”

His fingers threaded through her folds, delving and circling, until her hips were working with him, easing his fingers where she wanted them to go. Rey turned her head, blushing from her gasping whimpers and closing her eyes against the wanton movement of her hips.

Her husband turned her back to face him with two fingers on her jaw. He stared down at her, hidden behind the mask. 

Her body was humming with desire and other needs she could not name. She wanted his hands on her body, controlling her. Owning her. She had his name, and he had her body. The fact that she could not deny him both thrilled and frustrated her, which only served to increase the heat in her core more.

When he hardened again and slid his cock back inside her, Kylo held himself still to feel her move herself along his length. The power it took to restrain himself from moving made the muscles of his stomach quiver. His thick cock anchored inside her as her walls closed down to cup him and he brought her up to her edge with his fingers on her clit. 

She took little gasps for air, teetering on the edge of her climax. Her eyelids fluttered as she stared up at the mask. Her husband, cut from the darkness. A shadow above her. Rey cried out when she came and pulsed around him buried deep inside. When she finally stopped quivering and melted into the bed, he pounded into her until he reached his own rough release moments later.

He collapsed beside her, panting. Rey turned to look into the mask, seeing her own glazed eyes and her soft, wondering smile warped in the reflection. It didn’t seem as frightening now as before.

Rey reached for his gloved hand. He allowed her to place it over her bare breast as she closed her eyes in the dark.

So he could feel the pounding of her heart for himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my sweet Koderenn. Thank you for your generosity and kindness, friend! 
> 
> This is a short chapter to allow some tension and time to pass between them before the next. Let your imaginations run wild in the meantime. 
> 
> Total chapter counts are an estimate and tags will update.

After nearly a week of marriage, Rey had yet to see his face.

She spent her days reading. The courtesans of Naboo had attempted to teach her needlework and some of the finer arts, but she preferred still tinkering with droids or re-routing electronics. With nothing but a datapad and the tedious holonet at her disposal, her days were long and lonely.

Fresh blossoms arrived on the cart with her dinner and perfumed her room in a heady, thick nectar. The food was always accompanied by a bottle of red wine and two glasses. She took these gestures as a form of kindness from her husband, or at least an attempt to show polite concern for her feelings. Rey showed him the same cordial respect. After finishing her meal, she'd shower and prepare for his arrival as her nerves set alight like the candle on the table.

She waited dutifully by the bed dressed in one of the many delicate gowns he had provided, perfumed and powdered in glittery silver on her cheeks and shoulders, her décolletage. Tokens to make herself appealing to him in the tradition of Naboo.

The vacuum gasp of the door announced his entrance. It closed with a metallic scrape, and her breath quickened. 

Her heart thumped in time with his heavy footfalls and beat even faster as Lord Ren closed in on her from behind. His chest made contact with her back, like an eclipse of heat. Warm hands traced the curve of her hips, leather skating against silk. He cupped her ass, her breasts, mapping her body with his large hands. The touch was always at first tentative and questing, but at the slightest sign of her acceptance– a gasp, or her pressing her body into his palms– the pressure increased along with his confidence. 

For as cold and cruel as the mask appeared to the world, underneath there was a flesh and blood man. A man who seemed to crave her wanting him.

It was a silent dance and they learned to move together. Rey was far too uncertain to speak. She knew her place and to let her husband take what was rightfully his. The bitterness of that truth was tempered by the sweetness of the heat pulsing in her veins and between her thighs as his hands roved her body. 

It was a subterranean secret that Rey would be loathe to admit, but submitting to him was a thrill. She closed her eyes and fell into the electricity of his touch. She’d never been anyone’s before. All her life, she was a scavenger. Just worthless trash discarded in the sand– a nothing. 

His hands on her body told her she was wanted. Coveted, even. His hands on her body told her she was real. 

Gloved hands, firm but gentle, pushed her down to the mattress and lifted the hem of her skirt. The groan through the mask was reward enough when he opened his pants and entered her. He began to pump his hips slowly against willing flesh, fully-dressed behind her as she rocked along with his thrusts. 

Her husband took what he wanted, but now waited to finish until he had turned her over to face him.

Rey reached for any bit of skin she could find. The taut plane of his stomach, the trail of soft, dark curls leading downward, the silky heat of his shaft. His nimble fingers slid between her legs to stroke her as he buried himself in her cunt. She stared up at her own reflection in the mask, eyes glassy and mouth slack, as he made her writhe along his cock.

His breath grew hoarse and quick behind the mask, but he waited until she cried out in pleasure and clenched around him in waves before he sought his own release. He pounded into her as she braced herself on his flexing arms.

Afterwards, for a few brief moments, he would lie beside her. Silent, not touching, and yet the heat from his body still managed to warm her bed. She felt his cum slip from her body, thighs rubbing together and tacky with it, and there was a slight sting from the thought of being used. Even that debasement was it's own kind of thrill, because she was his only– his one. The mother of his future children that the Emperor had decreed. Filthy, but ordained.

His breath behind the mask slowly quieted as he composed himself. She had the feeling, oddly, that he was shy around her afterwards. Her husband left her with the stroke of a gloved finger along her cheek, never staying in her chambers for the night.

Receding like the moon at the break of dawn. But her husband was no shadow, no moon. He was a man. In his wide chest a heart like hers was beating, she was sure of it. After Rey cleaned herself, she curled up in the sheets of her empty bed to savor the warmth they had made together.

She’d find a way to peel back the layers of black and chrome and see for herself who lay underneath. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a bit! Thank you for your patience on this story. We're getting somewhere, folks!
> 
> Thanks to the kind and lovely Koderenn for her prompt inspiring this work. Your support and generosity to me and so many in this fandom is appreciated, friend. I hope you enjoy this story! <3

Lady Freyah Naberrie Ren was bored.

Spending all day in her quarters alone was no way to live. Not for a desert rat used to the sun and open sky. She was stagnating in the cold, recycled air of the Finalizer. The only time she left her chambers were to aimlessly wander the halls twice a day chaperoned by a protocol droid and evading the eyes of curious officers and storm troopers while humming to herself. 

The droid was no real company. She was lonely. If only they would let her old handmaiden Arden visit her. 

If only her husband could spend more time with her. After nearly two weeks of marriage, she had still not seen his face. He had not yet spent the night with her. Rey was growing restless.

That restlessness made her daring.

One night, when her dinner arrived on the cart, she immediately ordered a second plate and place setting. She summoned the protocol droid while tapping the tips of her fingers together.

“My lady?”

“Please find Lord Ren immediately. It is urgent.” She made her voice sound forceful and confident, but her stomach filled with butterflies.

“Yes, my Lady. Is there something I may assist you with?”

“No, only my husband can help me,” Rey smoothed out her dress. “I need Lord Ren.” She smiled to herself as the door closed with a hiss. Time to make preparations.

Carefully, Rey poured out two glasses of red wine. She separated the food onto a second plate and set the small table for two. From the fresh flowers he sent her daily, she picked three of the darkest red blooms and arranged them in a glass of water at the center. There. All set.

The hall door opened suddenly and loud footsteps hit the floor like laser blasts as he marched into the room, his dark cape billowing in his wake.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Kylo said, voice deep and clipped.

Hands smoothing down her skirts, a small smile drawn on her lips, she turned to face him. “I wondered if you would join me for dinner, Lord?”

She froze when she saw the tension in his shoulders. His gloved hand clutched the saber on his hip and he was hunched forward as if prepared to attack.

Her eyes grew wide. Kylo was– worried? For her?

“This is the emergency?” He looked down at the table slowly, his voice through the modulator betraying no hint of emotion. “You are . . . inviting me to dinner?” 

The leather of his glove creaked around the hilt of his weapon. His posture had not yet changed. Rey’s cheeks grew hot in shame.

“Um. Well, yes, Lord, I am,” she looked down, biting her lip.

Kylo took steps closer. She fidgeted in place, blinking quickly at the floor, feeling suddenly very small and foolish. 

He gave a deep sigh. “I was in the middle of trade route negotiations with the Karkos System. I thought something was wrong.”

“I- I’m sorry.” She gulped. Was he angry with her? Disappointed? Her eyes welled with tears. He was her only friend on the ship, if she could call him that, and the fear of losing his regard was painful.

“Don’t be. It was tedious beyond belief.”

She looked up when he gently cupped her chin to raise it. His thumb brushed her jaw tenderly.

“Just ask me next time, wife. Don’t alarm me like that.”

She nodded. “I will. I’m sorry.”

He lowered his hand and brushed her shoulder. “Forgiven. Now, what did you need from me? You need only ask.”

“Um. I would like . . . “ What did she need from him? Attention? Conversation? It was hard to put into words. She shook her head lightly, lips pursed. 

“I would like your company.”

He cocked his head and despite the intimidating mask it struck her as almost comical. He seemed confused.

“You would?”

She nodded again. “I’m lonely.” She bit her lip and waited for his response to such a vulnerable admission. He may show her scorn or disdain. He was a very busy man, the second in command to the Emperor himself, what did he care if his new wife was lonely? What was she in the grand scheme of the galaxy?

Kylo said nothing for a moment, thinking. Her trepidation grew, but then he walked to her chair and drew it out for her. “My Lady.”

Rey moved quickly to sit down and he took his place across from her. He leaned on the arm of the chair, legs spread on the seat and eyed the glasses of wine.

“You know I do not drink.”

Her boldness was on a high from the victory of having won his attention. She smiled at him, coy. “I was hoping you may make an exception.”

“Or were you hoping I’d remove the mask?”

Her heart leaped and began beating heavy in her chest. “Yes, husband. That, too.”

His chest rose and fell on a deep inhale. “And what do you expect to see if I do?”

It was a thrilling question. She did not know precisely. “The face of the man I married,” Rey answered with a smile. Her gaze dropped to his hand on the armrest as it fisted and released on its own. He was considering it, she was sure.

“What good would that do you, wife, since you had no say in the matter.”

It was a shot of ice down her spine. She stiffened and blinked, looking down at her plate. “Well, you had no choice in the matter yourself, yet you can see me.” She peeked up, tilting her head bravely. “All parts, I might add.”

He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. She had no way of telling, but if her husband had the ability to blush, she was quite sure he was doing so under all that black and chrome. If only she could see for herself.

“That is true. You’re too lovely to hide away.”

Rey looked at him directly. She could see her own eyes mirrored back and the assurance she held within them. “From what little you’ve shown of me, you are beautiful, too. I wish to see more, my Lord.”

Delicately, Rey pushed back from the table and walked toward him. He pushed his chair back to make room for her to kneel between his legs as his hands gripped the arm rests.

She stared up at his mask and placed her hands on his thighs. “Please, Kylo,” she whispered, “Please let me see more of you.”

She gripped his thighs and they were firm as rock. His gloved hand cupped her cheek somewhat roughly and squeezed. The words had affected him, and she could feel the thin tendril of his control fraying. She felt a jolt of adrenaline and excitement at his control and power, and that small bite of fear that he could do anything to her and she would not be able to say no. It thrilled her, too.

Her palms stroked up and down his flexed thighs and she moved to unfasten his pants. “Please, please let me see,” she whispered as her gaze fell to his lap. His cock was already filling and pressing at his pants and she reached down to untuck him fully. It was swelling with blood, thick and heavy with satiny soft skin over the length of it. Rey licked her lips and brushed the thick, dark curls at the base of it. Such a big man, a virile man, her husband. She gripped him from the base and started to draw and pull as he leaned back in his chair to watch her.

She became greedy for more of him. Her other hand unbuttoned his tunic, revealing the tensing muscles of his abdomen, and he allowed her to keep working up to reveal his ribs and chest. Her eyes grew wide. So much skin, pale and taut. The muscles were carved into his flesh, as were myriad scars and slashes from battle. A life’s worth of experience he carried on his skin. She wanted to know and feel it all. As she pumped his cock, her eyes hungrily took in every sharp line and curve.

“You’re quiet, wife,” he said. 

“You are so handsome,” she said.

He laughed at her. “My cock? Or my chest?”

“All of you,” she blinked at him and lowered her mouth down. “All of it.”

He exhaled when she took the tip between her lips. Salty warmth flooded her mouth, and she rose higher on her knees for a better angle to suck him in deeper. Her one hand kept squeezing and pumping his shaft while the other palm slid up his stomach, feeling the soft, dark hairs that led from his navel down. He was so firm, so warm, so very male. Rey closed her eyes and hollowed out her cheeks with a moan as she rubbed her thighs together to contain her own growing heat.

Kylo was not unaffected. Within a few minutes of her work, he was cupping the back of her head, flexing his hips in time with her mouth and his hoarse breath echoed loud in the quiet room. She was getting messy, cheeks and chin wet with spit, eyes watering when he hit the top of her throat, but determined to taste him for as long as she could. Feel how badly he wanted her for herself.

A hand moved from her head to her shoulder, and Kylo shuddered and pushed her back on her heels. She released him with a wet pop. She was panting now, too. “My Lord?”

“Your mouth isn’t what I want to fill, wife,” he said gruffly. She continued to rove her hands over his skin. When his right hand dropped from her shoulder, she quickly caught it between hers.

Looking at him the entire time, Rey slowly pulled at the fingertips of his glove to remove it. He made no move to stop her, leaning back in the chair with his glistening, hard cock sprung free and his tunic spread open. A strip of delicious, pale skin just for her eyes.

She removed the glove and looked down at his hand. It was as strong as the rest of him, with long, thick fingers. Agile and deft, despite the size. She turned it over, front to back, studying it. Without thinking, she leaned down and gave a soft kiss to the center of his palm.

He moaned behind the mask as she pressed her lips to him, almost more so than when she sucked his cock down her throat. 

“Come here,” he said, deep and commanding as he drew her up to standing. He helped her peel off the dress, dropping the layers on the floor for her to kick them away. Rey crawled over him to straddle his legs as he cradled her ass to haul her closer.

She gasped as her wet slit drew against his hot cock. He stripped off the other glove himself, and then it was a mess of hands. Hers on the swell of muscle on his chest and shoulders, mountains of strength to be explored, and then wrapping her small hands around to his exposed neck. His hot hands were on her ass, her waist, her breasts. His hands were rough but she whined and leaned into it, needing the sensation and the sweet friction of his touch. Greedy for it all, whatever he would give her.

She rocked against him, and Kylo grabbed her hip and aligned himself. His thighs splayed on the chair, her legs hooked around his, she was spread wide open for him as he pushed inside. Rey closed her eyes and keened.

He squeezed her ass to drag her along his length and set the tempo. She canted her hips and followed his pace as he palmed her breast roughly and then stroked her jaw. His thumb traced her lips and she turned her head to take it inside her mouth and suck.

He still wore the helmet, and she could see her own wanton reflection. Her buns were in disarray, her sloppy mouth, the way her eyelids drew narrow with lust. It made her whine to see herself as such a wild thing. She looked down at the muscles of his chest and stomach rippling as he moved, the tendons of his neck working. It was mesmerizing. A feast of skin for her eyes.

Kylo groaned again and began to pull her to him faster, pumping his hips and using her body as his own. The depth of his thrusts made her moan in time with his hips.

“Yes, yes,” she muttered. “ _Please._ Please, Kylo.” Mindless words. Pleas for mercy or to never stop, she couldn’t tell. She was tightening around his cock, her inner walls starting to flutter.

Rey leaned down and mouthed at his chest. Kissing his collarbone, his neck, whispering into his skin, “Please, _please,_ Kylo.” He groaned.

When she came, she dragged him along with her in tandem. An explosion of warmth as she trembled in his lap and cried out through the spasms. He wrapped his arms around her back while gasping.

She wilted onto him and turned her head to rest on his chest, nuzzling under the edge of the mask. His heart was slowing under her cheek as he held her fast to him in the chair. If not for his arms, she may have melted onto the floor like liquid.

In the quiet of the room, she kissed his neck lazily and stroked circles onto the planes of his chest. “Will you stay? Will you stay with me tonight?” Her hands wouldn’t stop touching him. She was afraid if she did, he’d leave her again. She wound another arm around his waist, as if that alone would keep him with her.

His breathing slowed. Kylo’s arms tightened, almost painfully for an instant, and then released to simply hold her to him. If that were an answer, she didn’t know what it could mean. She prepared herself for disappointment. She couldn’t allow her heart to fill with buoyant hope only to have it sink heavy again when he denied her.

She curled as close as she could against him. Savoring the moment and the feel of him bare against her. His words rumbled through his chest directly to her ear.

“Yes, wife. I will.”

Rey’s heart soared.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a bit! Thank you for waiting. 
> 
> If you a need a refresher, I'd suggest reading chapter 2 & 5\. Where we left them: Kylo promised to stay the night, so Rey's hoping to see him for the first time. :D
> 
> Much thanks to the lovely giftee herself, Koderenn, and wonderful DangerTaylor for feedback. <3

Rey smiled at her reflection in the fresher, skin still buzzing from his touch, but even more so from his words. Kylo would stay with her tonight. She would finally see the face of her husband. 

Her stomach felt full of butterflies, as if the fragrance of the plom blossoms he gifted her each day had lured them. Inside her heart, something else bloomed. Maybe it was too soon to call it love, but it was affection. Longing. A strange, growing connection and almost magnetic force that drew her to want to be with him, to be touched by him.

Perhaps it was love after all.

She spun the shower handle, still delighted by the cascading sound even after all these months off Jakku.  _ Falling water for her to bathe in!  _ Like a luxurious dream. A sign that she was no longer that sad little girl in the sand. With a wide smile on her face, Rey began pulling down her buns when she heard voices outside the door. A droid and then the deep rumbling voice of her husband in response.

A chair scraped back and heavy footsteps crossed the room. He was going. Her stomach lurched, and she scrambled for a towel to wrap herself in as she threw open the door.

“Kylo!”

He stopped mid-pace on his way out the door, and looked back over his shoulder at her. She must appear a desperate mess, with her hair half-undone and mouth hanging open. As desperate as she felt. 

“You’re leaving?” She swallowed a lump in her throat, willing herself not to crumble.

His gaze dropped to the floor. Light caught the chrome of his visor with the movement. “The Supreme Leader called for me. I must go.”

“When will you–”

“I’m not sure.” His tone was cold and clipped through the mask. “Don’t wait up for me.”

The door slid shut behind him with a hiss.

Her hands began to tremble first. Rey turned and slowly walked back to the shower. The towel slipped through her fingers to the floor and she stepped under the warm stream of water. She twisted the dial to almost scalding as the first salty tears ran down the drain.

She could sob as loudly as she wanted. There was no one left to hear her.

__________

  
  


Time passed. How much, she couldn’t measure. It could’ve been hours or minutes, the only measure was the tangle of wet hair slowly drying, uncombed.

Rey slipped on a chemise and picked bits of fruit from Kylo’s plate, but had little stomach for it. She dragged herself to bed. Curling onto her side, she wrapped herself under the thick blankets and closed her eyes, but the tears wouldn’t stop coming. They leaked silently even as her voice was too sore now to cry, leaving wet tracks she didn’t bother to dry. Running steadily as if they seeped from her broken heart itself.

She tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come. Did it even matter if she slept? Would anyone notice or care? As long as she was awake when he wanted to use her. Her only purpose. Like a tool. 

It was a knife in her chest. Her sobs shook the mattress.

All at once, the main chamber door slid open. She didn’t lift her head from the pillow, expecting the service droids to retrieve the meal trays.

When the bedroom door pushed open, light slicing across the floor, she barely turned to blink at it with bleary eyes.

His dark silhouette was unmistakable. She rose to an elbow and blinked. It didn’t make sense. 

_ You came back.  _

Kylo moved to stand beside the bed, draping her in shadow. “Did I wake you?” he asked quietly.

She shook her head, not positive that she wasn’t dreaming.

He placed a hand on her hip, tentatively. “I felt you.”

“What?” she swallowed, uncertain. The warmth and solid feel of his hand on her body kept the spinning feeling at bay.

“In the Force. Our marriage bond has heightened the connection.”

A gloved hand cupped her jaw slowly as his thumb swiped at the tears. She sniffled and shuddered at the touch, her eyes welling with fresh tears even as a wave of relief flowed through her.

“I felt your sadness. It was painful.”

Her mind was still in a fog, and she couldn’t make sense of it. He felt her sadness and returned? What precisely had the Supreme Leader done to them in that red room when he bonded them? 

It didn’t matter now.  _ He came back.  _

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking down and wilting into herself. 

“Don’t apologize.” He sat on the bed next to her and stroked her cheek. “I didn’t want to leave you.”

She stared at her own wet eyes reflected back to her from the chrome of his mask. An electric vibration began flowing through her veins, reminding her of the ceremony and the vows that were made. 

_ Ryoo Freyah Naberrie, you are bound to Lord Kylo Ren. Let no one pull asunder what the Force has brought together.  _

His voice lowered. “I never want you to feel that way. Not because of me.”

Her pulse quickened as she shifted to sit up further. His hand slid away from her hip, but she snatched it to pull to her chest. She cradled it like something precious.

“Can you stay?” She didn’t care how weak her voice sounded. Even weak things could be brave. 

His leather glove creaked as she held it firm to her breast, his other hand fisting and flexing on his thigh. For the first time, she wondered if they were both weak things in different ways. Maybe he needed her as much as she needed him.

“Please,” she whispered, “Please let me see you.”

“And what if you are disappointed?” The speed of the words betrayed how close to the surface they lived. How fresh the fear. “What if you hate what you see?”

“I could never hate you.”

“You don’t know that. You don’t know me,” he snarled, trying to pull his hand back. “How can you promise that?”

But Rey wouldn’t let go, battling to hold his hand and rising on her knees to lean towards him.

“Because _ you are mine _ ,” she snarled back at him through clenched teeth. Vicious in her need. “You promised!”

He stopped. His chest expanded wide with each quick breath, like a cornered animal.

“You belong to me,” she continued, pushing forward and crowding him, her hot breath fogging up his visor. “We are bound in the Force. You cannot say no.”

His breath rasped through the mask, unsteady as he studied her. His voice returned softer. “You did not choose this.”

“No, I didn’t.” Her other hand grasped his shoulder, pinning him under her stare as she squeezed his hand closer to her heart. “But I choose you now, husband.”

The words settled in. The silence rose around them. The tension in his shoulders didn’t ease, but he gave her hand a light squeeze and then withdrew from her. She allowed it.

His hands lifted to the sides of his mask as her pulse began to race. With a flick of fingers, compressed air released in a gust and the front plate slid out and away from his face.

Rey watched with wide, clear eyes and parted lips as he lifted the mask up and off and set it on the bed behind him. 

Her husband, face to face, for the first time. It was a shock. 

Kylo Ren was beautiful.

So much younger than she expected, maybe only a handful of years older than her. Dark waves of thick hair fell almost to his shoulders, and he had high cheekbones and a strong brow. A noble face, that of a warrior. Pale as cream.

Rey noticed with surprise that he seemed nervous. His eyes wouldn’t meet hers, darting around the room, but they were soulful eyes, she could tell. Haunted by mysteries she craved to learn.

But his lips. His full, rosy, plush lips. She was instantly besotted by them and at the same time absolutely furious that he had withheld such treasures from her for so long.

So she started with his mouth first. 

Pressing forward on knees, she traced his upper lip with a fingertip. Softly, so as to not leave a mark, even on sand. They were indeed as soft as they looked, she decided, and she licked her own lips without thinking. The path continued down to his full bottom lip. She exhaled softly.

It struck her with momentary alarm that she was staring at him mercilessly with no self-regard or shame, and without even considering asking his permission. As if he were a specimen or piece of art she was inspecting and not a person who may have an opinion on the matter. She looked up and caught him staring back at her. Kylo huffed and lifted his chin to look at the wall instead, fixing his demeanor into something neutral and a bit haughty. But in that brief, unguarded glance, she caught what he was trying to hide from her . . . 

Surprise. He was surprised by her fascination. She decided to test the theory. 

“May I touch you, Lord?” she asked formally.

“Whatever you please, wife.” His tone sounded unaffected, yet his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat.

His voice was smooth and rich, a deep timbre even without the mask, and it made her insides warm to hear it finally. So human, so alive.

“It would very much please me to touch you,” she replied, just as clearly, fixing her gaze solidly on him. Hunting.

There. On the arched slopes of his cheeks– the faintest rising color. Was that a blush? There was no more barrier to hide his feelings from her.

Her stomach began to dance. She licked her lips and shifted closer. Days of hunger and loneliness shifted to her hands. She wanted to consume him inch by inch.

He was hers, now, after all.

She brushed his brows next, even as one quirked in stifled amusement. Then the long line of his nose.

“Is this an entertainment then?” he asked, shifting his weight where he sat.

“Yes. Very much.” She tipped down to find his cupid’s bow. “And I have so much catching up to do, my Lord.”

“As you desire, wife.” She felt his hands landed lightly on her hips as if to steady her. Yet they didn’t move.

She brushed circles over his cheeks, connecting moles and tiny scars, wondering if he’d had all of these since his boyhood? What type of battles had he been in? What had such a strong face looked like as a child?

The swell of affection grew so strong, she placed a chaste kiss on his left cheek and then pulled back to smile at him.

His lips parted slowly as he looked at her as if she’d just told him a very vexing problem. The bewilderment was charming in someone so large and powerful.

“Have you had enough of this yet?” He asked, but it was not unkind nor said very urgently. His warm breath tickled her cheek.

“Not nearly,” she kissed his other cheekbone. His hands gripped her waist a bit tighter, fingers wrapping around to her back and nearly meeting.

“I was expecting some . . . different sorts of touching.” His body was leaning toward her like a flower searching for sunlight.

“All in good time, Lord.” She cradled his cheeks between her two palms and bent down. He closed his eyes and she placed a soft kiss on his left eyelid.

His hands dipped down to cup her ass. She kissed his other eyelid and he sighed, heavy and slow.

“May I take it that you find me acceptable then, wife?”

There was a hint of a sardonic smile on the corner of his mouth. She wanted to draw it forth to its full glory.

Her hand tracked down his long, pale, graceful neck to his chest, and then delved even lower to end between his legs. His breath stuttered and a flicker of a smile touched his lips.

“Yes, husband. More than that, even.” She palmed his steadily thickening cock through his trousers as she angled her head to speak to his parted lips.

“I love what I see.”

Their first kiss lit a fire under her skin. It was indeed an affront that Kylo kept those soft lips from her so long. Rey fully intended to make up for it, tenfold, each day, henceforth. Her tongue dipped between his lips, untrained but with enthusiasm, and his fingers dug into her ass.

After all, it was decreed.

He was hers.

**Author's Note:**

> Star Wars characters are property of The Walt Disney Company.  
> Original story and characters are copyright © 2019 by NewerConstellations. All rights reserved.
> 
> This work is intended for personal use by Ao3 users while posted. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of author, except in the cases of certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Please do not transmit downloads beyond personal use.
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